RHS Photographic Competition celebrates National Poinsettia Day on 12th December

Friday 9 December 2016

As Christmas approaches the Royal Horticultural Society is calling on budding photographers to rediscover these photogenic houseplants

The RHS is calling on amateur and professional photographers to celebrate National Poinsettia Day on 12th December by capturing the beauty of Britain’s favourite Christmas plants on camera and entering the free annual RHS Photographic Competition.

Vibrant shots of brightly coloured leaves could make compelling entries in this year’s RHS Photographic Competition, with close ups suitable for the Abstract and Detail category, while images of the plants against an urban environment backdrop could be entered in the Greening Grey Britain category or shared on social media category with the hashtag #RHSPhotoComp.

Cash prizes will be awarded to first, second and third places in each category from an increased overall prize fund of £10,000. In addition, the winner of each adult category will receive a year’s membership of the RHS. Entries can be submitted online until 28 February 2017 (submission link can be found here).

With the right care poinsettias can live as long as 30 years and bring joy to families for many Christmases to come.

Follow these 4 tips on caring for poinsettias from RHS chief horticulturist Guy Barter to keep these photogenic plants alive all year round so that they can burst into colour again next Christmas:

1. After the festive season is over, make sure to prune back the plants hard in April, to about 10cm (4in).

2. When summer arrives, repot the plant and place it in a light, cool place. A temperature of 15-18°C (60-65°F) is ideal.

3. From November onwards, plants should be put in a dark room after twelve hours of daylight and protected from artificial light sources. This is because flowering and bract colouring is initiated by short winter day-length, occurring naturally in December and January.

4. Lastly, make sure they do not get too cold as poinsettias need a constant temperature of around 18°C (55°F) to colour up well.

-Ends-

Notes to editors

About the RHS Photographic Competition
The competition opens on 26 May 2016 and closes on 28 February 2017. There are nine categories in total and all are free to enter, both for RHS members and non-members. Of these, eight categories will give a first, second or third place, plus highly commended, if judges deem necessary. The Portfolio category is an RHS-judged medal category for which applicants must go through to a selection process (please see below). To enter free images please visit: rhs.org.uk/photocomp

Categories:

• Celebrating RHS Gardens
Let your photographic imagination flourish at any of our four RHS Gardens during any season.

• Welcoming Garden Wildlife
Beautiful photographs of insects, birds and creatures found wild in your garden or in their natural environment.

• Pure Plants
Submissions should show a plant, tree or shrub as a whole or near-whole entity. For example, a photograph could include the flower, stem and leaves of one single plant, or a clump of plants growing naturally.

• Abstract and Details
This can be a close-up of a plant or an abstract view of plants or gardens. Demonstrate your creativity and originality by creating a unique piece of photographic art.

• Greening Grey Britain
Support the RHS campaign to enrich everyone’s life through plants and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place – whether a view of a window box in an urban flat or a small planted area in the suburbs.

• Social Media
Any digital image submitted via RHS Twitter, Instagram or Facebook accounts using the #RHSPhotoComp hashtag. The image can be related to anything horticultural or gardening, and a monthly winner will be selected by our social media followers. The monthly shortlist will be selected by the RHS social media team. Each monthly winner will then be fed into the competition judging for overall category winner.

• Portfolio
This category is for a staged display of six pieces of photography and will be judged for RHS medals. To be eligible to participate in this category, photographers who have not previously exhibited printed photography at an RHS Show must first submit a sample of four pieces of work to the RHS Photographic Panel for assessment and approval. Eligible photographers (those who have been approved by the panel) must display a minimum of six photographs, within a maximum of 6m of display panel(s). Entry to the Portfolio category does not preclude entry to the other categories. For more information on submitting to the Portfolio category please email lucywaitt@rhs.org.uk.

Prizes

RHS Photographer of the Year 2017 £5,000
RHS Young Photographer of the Year 2017 £750 Wex Photographic vouchers

Marianne Majerus is one of the world's foremost garden photographers. She has won many awards for her work, which is widely published around the world, and she has published many books. Her recent book, Garden Design: A Book of Ideas, earned her the Garden Media Guild prize for 'Book Photographer of the Year'.

Clive Nichols has established a reputation as one of the world's finest flower and garden photographers. His passion for the subject comes across in every image that he makes. Clive's work has appeared in hundreds of books as well as in countless magazines, calendars and brochures. Over the past 25 years he has amassed a stunning collection of more than 80,000 images, which are available for reproduction. Clive regularly gives masterclasses in flower and garden photography, and also photographs interiors, travel, architecture and lifestyle, undertaking many prestigious commissions.

Chris Young is the Editor of the RHS magazine The Garden and is chair of the judging panel. A keen gardener and trained landscape designer, he has a passion for photography and for an image’s ability to capture the beauty of gardens, plants and open spaces. He has been a judge on the RHS Photographic Competition for eight years, and always enjoys the range of images that are submitted.

About the RHS
The Royal Horticultural Society was founded in 1804 by Sir Joseph Banks and John Wedgwood to inspire passion and excellence in the science, art and practice of horticulture. Our vision is to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener, healthier, happier and more beautiful place. We believe everyone in every village, town and city should benefit from growing plants to enhance lives, build stronger, healthier, happier communities and create better places to live.

We held our first flower shows in 1820, were granted a Royal Charter in 1861 and acquired RHS Garden Wisley, our flagship garden, in 1903. From our first meetings in a small room off London’s Piccadilly, we have grown to become the world’s largest gardening charity. At our gardens and shows and through our scientific research, publications, libraries and our education and community programmes we inspire a passion for gardening and growing plants, promote the value of gardens, demonstrate how gardening is good for us and explain the vital roles that plants undertake.

The RHS is committed to bring the joy of gardening to millions more people, inspire the next generation of gardeners and invest in the future to safeguard a £10.4 billion industry employing more than 300,000 people. We are entirely funded by our members, visitors and supporters. RHS membership is for anyone with an interest in gardening. Support the RHS and help us secure a healthy future for gardening. For more information call: 020 3176 5820, or visit rhs.org.uk/join

About the RHS

The RHS believes that gardening improves the quality of life and that everyone should have access to great garden experiences. As a charity we help to bring gardening into people's lives and support gardeners of all levels and abilities; whether they are expert horticulturists or children who are planting seeds for the very first time.

RHS membership is for anyone with an interest in gardening. Support the RHS and secure a healthy future for gardening. For more information call: 0845 130 4646, or visit www.rhs.org.uk